Procedural order processing

ABSTRACT

An order en route to a marketplace is delayed so that a procedure can determine whether to generate a spawned order, and the spawned order is sent to a destination for execution essentially contemporaneously with the sending of the en route order to the marketplace. The spawned order can be sent to the same marketplace or a different marketplace than the en route order is sent to. The spawned order provides additional liquidity.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/005,240, filed Dec. 26, 2007, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/329,174, filed Dec. 24, 2002, whichclaims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.60/319,045, filed Dec. 26, 2001 and from U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 60/352,452, filed Jan. 28, 2002; each of thesethree applications has a common inventor herewith.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to trading systems for improving marketliquidity, and more particularly, is directed to automating generationof an order in response to order flow information.

Securities trading is a highly competitive industry. Conventionally,sophisticated traders have computers running programs for monitoringmarket data information and, in response thereto, automaticallygenerating orders and sending the orders to a marketplace for execution.The computer programs enable faster response to market conditions.However, the market data information that stimulates these computerprograms consists of execution prices for trades that just occurred.Thus, conventional order generation programs are always reacting tohistorical information.

Recently, equities began trading on major markets in decimals,hundredths of a dollar, instead of eighths of a dollar. As expected,bid-ask quote spreads have narrowed. Contrary to expectations, theincreasing market transparency has resulted in a decline in the qualityof markets, measured by stability and volume. It appears that the narrowspread leaves inadequate room for market makers to profitably dobusiness.

Another concern is that electronic communication networks (ECNs)typically pay a small fee, such as $0.001 per share, to parties whoprovide liquidity by entering orders for storage in the ECN, and chargea larger fee, such as $0.02 per share, to parties who execute againstthe stored orders. In some markets, it would be preferable to reversethe cost burden.

NYFIX Millennium (www.nyfix.com) is a computer system that enables usersto contribute a pool of liquidity by passing their NYSE DOT (DesignatedOrder Turnaround) and institutional block volume through Millennium onits way to the floor of the NYSE. This pass-through volume is allowed tointeract with resting orders that can improve the price reflected on theNYSE by at least $0.01. If Millennium cannot improve price, the order isimmediately sent on to its original destination for execution.Millennium limits users to bidding on incoming orders. Millennium'smethodology is simply to look at incoming order flow. Millennium keepsthe order's originator anonymous.

Instant Forwarding is a feature of NYFIX Millennium. If an order is sentto NYFIX Millennium and is not immediately executed in the System,thereby obtaining a better price that is available on an establishedmarket, the order is instantly routed to a secondary destinationpredetermined by the trader. In most ECNs, if an order is notimmediately executed, the order is “stranded” there, waiting for eitheran execution or cancellation. The problem with that scenario is thatwhile an order is waiting in an ECN, a better price may be available inthe primary market which a trader would not be able to take advantage ofwithout first canceling his/her order.

Anonymous matching is another feature of NYFIX Millennium. Traders canexpose large blocks of stock to the constant liquidity pool flowing backand forth over the NYFIX Network and be able to receive executions, withno one ever seeing their orders. An Institution will never have toreveal that it is trying to accumulate or sell a position. Throughoutthe post-trade and clearing stages of the execution process, buyers andsellers remain completely anonymous.

Intelligent Order Routing (IOR) is a service of NYFIX Millennium. Forsmaller orders, if NYFIX Millennium is unable to obtain a better price,the IOR functionality sends that order, in real-time, to the executionvenue statistically most likely to improve the price. NYFIX Millenniumanalyzes the statistics of price improvement and expects to increasethem by leveraging all the different execution points and determining,for each individual order, where the best price is usually achieved.This function provides a client with two chances at achieving a betterprice that the displayed national best bid or offer, first NYFIXMillennium, and second, through IOR.

NYFIX Millennium operates with two basic order types: pass-throughorders and conditional orders. Pass-through orders are those thatpass-through NYFIX Millennium on their way to another liquidity source,such as a primary or regional exchange, third market firm or ECN. If amatch can be found within Millennium, an execution is sent back to thetrader is real-time. If no match is found, the order merely “passesthrough” NYFIX Millennium and continues on to the predetermineddestination. Conditional orders provide a mechanism for larger,institutional-size orders to be anonymously and invisibly exposed to themarketplace. Entering conditional orders into NYFIX Millennium enablestraders to specify various trading conditions that will trigger anexecution when particular conditions are met. Conditional orders can becrossed with pass-through or other conditional orders. NYFIX Millenniumhas proposed offering users the ability to place orders at the opening,closing and volume weighted average price (VWAP).

Harborside Plus (www.harborsideplus.com) is a block trading system thataccepts an indication of interest (IOI) from a trader, and stores theIOI. An IOI represents a willingness to trade a particular size, withthe minimum being 25,000 shares. Only the side and symbol are required,limits are optional. The actual order size is never sent. When thesystem identifies a match between counterparties, the buyer and sellerare both notified by telephone and a negotiation begins. The HarborsidePlus trading desk facilitates the negotiation, such as by providing thenational best bide and offer midpoint price at the time of the match asa reference point. The buyer and seller identities remain completelyconfidential When the buyer and seller reach agreement, the trade isreported by Harborside Securities.

Liquid Net (www.liquidnet.com) is an alternative trading system (ATS)for buy-side institutions in the United States. Liquidnet brings naturalbuyers and sellers together and enables them to anonymously negotiatetrades among each other, without intermediaries or information leaks.The Liquidnet system brings liquidity to the trader, reversing thecurrent paradigm of searching for liquidity. Liquidnet offer completeanonymity—buyers' and sellers' identities are never revealed, even aftera trade is completed. Liquidnet orders are matched based on quantityparameters continuously throughout the day, i.e., quantity discoveryrather than price discovery. Liquidnet assumes anonymous, one-on-onenegotiations that enable traders to maintain complete control ofexecution price and quantity.

The term “best execution” is most accurately described as delivering theexecution that best suits the client's needs, that may vary from simplyobtaining the best price on a single trade, to maintaining anonymity, tospeed of execution, to reduction of price dis-improvement. Due to thevarying and sometimes contradictory constraints imposed by traders andmarkets, there is room to improve the ability of order generationprograms to interact with the market.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an aspect of this invention, there is provided amethod of routing an original order to a marketplace. A first softwareprogram delays the original order by a predetermined short time periodand, at the end of the predetermined short time period, sends theoriginal order to the marketplace. During the predetermined short timeperiod, information relating to the original order is provided to aprocedure, the procedure being a second software program executing on atleast one processor, so that the procedure can determine whether togenerate a spawned order, the information including at least onecharacteristic of the original order, the characteristic selected fromthe group of symbol, price, side, quantity and party, the side beingeither buy or sell. Based upon the determination, the spawned order isgenerated by the procedure, at least one characteristic of the spawnedorder being determined in response to the received information for theoriginal order, and the spawned order is sent by the procedure from theat least one processor to a destination for execution essentiallycontemporaneously with the sending of the original order to themarketplace.

In accordance with another aspect of this invention, there is provided amethod of routing an original order to a marketplace. A software programexecuting on a computer processor receives the original order andprovides information relating to the original order to a procedure, theprocedure being a second software program executing on at least oneprocessor, so that the procedure can determine whether to generate aspawned order, the information including at least one characteristic ofthe original order, the characteristic selected from the group ofsymbol, price, side, quantity and party, the side being either buy orsell. Based upon the determination, the procedure generates the spawnedorder, at least one characteristic of the spawned order being determinedin response to the received information for the original order. Thesoftware program checks whether the quantity of the spawned order is atleast equal to the quantity of the original order, and when the quantityof the spawned order is less that the quantity of the original order,the software program adjusts the quantity of the original order to beequal to the quantity of the spawned order. The software program sendthe adjusted original order to the marketplace, and sends the spawnedorder from the at least one processor to a destination for executionessentially contemporaneously with the sending of the adjusted originalorder to the marketplace.

In accordance with a further aspect of this invention, there is provideda method of routing an original order. A software program executing on acomputer processor receives the original order and provides informationrelating to the original order to a procedure, the procedure being asecond software program executing on at least one processor, so that theprocedure can determine whether to generate a spawned order, theinformation including at least one characteristic of the original order,the characteristic selected from the group of symbol, price, side,quantity and party, the side being either buy or sell. Based upon thedetermination, the procedure generates the spawned order, at least onecharacteristic of the spawned order being determined in response to thereceived information for the original order. The software program checkswhether the quantity of the spawned order is at least equal to thequantity of the original order, and when the quantity of the spawnedorder is less than the quantity of the original order, cancels thespawned order and the original order.

It is not intended that the invention be summarized here in itsentirety. Rather, further features, aspects and advantages of theinvention are set forth in or are apparent from the followingdescription and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram referred to in explaining the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a procedure;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an interest;

FIGS. 4-7 are block diagrams showing respective environments in whichthe present invention is applied;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts referred to in explaining a setup phase;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are flowcharts showing operation of a procedureprocessor according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram referred to in explaining the presentinvention; and

FIGS. 13-16 are flowchart referred to in explaining embodiments of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A procedure is a template that specifies trigger conditions and what todo when the trigger conditions occur, or do not occur within a specifiedtime. Generally, a procedure corresponds to an order handling strategyused by a trader. A menu of standard procedures exist, and customprocedures are accommodated after being qualified for use in the presentsystem.

An interest represents an intent to trade. In contrast, an order is adefinite commitment to buy or sell a certain amount. Generally, aninstitution or professional trader will know that they wish to tradewhen conditions are right, but will not be quite ready to submit anorder. The institution or trader thus represents untapped marketliquidity. By representing such liquidity as interests, the liquiditycan be more efficient coupled to markets.

Typically, a trader creates an interest by selecting a procedure from amenu, then supplying parameters representing what the trader wishes totrade and the conditions that will convert the general interest to aspecific order. The interest is sent to a procedure processor.

The procedure processor stores interests in an interest book, storesprocedures in a procedure book, and when the triggers for the proceduresspecified in the interests occur, the procedure processor executes theprocedures to spawn orders or notifications to block trading systems ofwillingness to negotiate. Thus, the liquidity represented by theinterests is injected into markets.

The procedure processor provides very limited communication to thetrader: only execution reports and selected status reports. Accordingly,it is safe for parties to submit interests as they remain strictlyconfidential.

The orders spawned by the procedure processor in response to orderindications are treated somewhat similar to “immediate or cancel”orders, that is, an execution report is not received within a shorttime, such as 100 msec, the procedure processor cancels the order.However, orders spawned in response to market data or the like mayspecify other behavior.

FIG. 1 shows interest book 12 and procedure book 14 coupled to procedureprocessor 10. Interest book 12 contains interests 12 a, 12 b, 12 c, 12d. Procedure book 14 contains procedures 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and decisiontable 14 z. Interests 12 a, 12 b, 12 c are associated with procedure 14a. Interest 12 d is associated with procedure 14 b. Procedure 14 c hasbeen defined but is not being used by any interest. Decision table 14 zspecifies how order indications should be shown to stored interests.

FIG. 2 shows procedure 14 a having triggers section 81, parameterdefinitions section 83 and associated interests section 84. Triggerssection 81 specifies one or more conditions that must exist for theactions section to be executed by procedure processor 10. Parameterdefinitions section 83 is used to define the parameters used by theprocedure, such as size of spawned order, total shares in the interest,when the interest expires, and acceptable contra-parties. Contra-partiescan be specified positively (ex: only broker a, broker b), negatively(ex: all except broker a, broker b) and by name or by behavior (ex: onlybrokers who have traded with me in the last 2 months) Associatedinterests section 84 identifies the interests using this procedure;initially, this section is always empty. An example of procedure 14 a isshown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 procedure procedure 14a name triggers order to buy at least nnshares parameters sym = symbol of security nn = shares of incoming orderm1 = maximum amount of shares per spawned sell order m2 = total amountof shares for the interest delta = maximum difference from last saleextime = expiration time contras = contra parties accepted or deniedassociated interest 12a, interest 12b, interest 12c interests

FIG. 3 shows interest 12 a having owner section 91, procedure section 92and parameters section 93. Owner section 91 specifies the party whocreated and retains control over the interest. Procedure section 92specifies the procedure that the interest should be associated with.Parameters section 93 specifies the parameters for the selectedprocedure. An example of interest 12 a is shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 interest name interest 12b owner trader 70 procedure procedure14a parameters sym = IBM nn = 10,000 m1 = 30,000 m2 = 200,000 delta =$0.04 extime = 2003 Jan 5, 11:30 a.m. contras = all except BrokerBluefieldThe interest defined in Table 2 says that when an buy order exists forat least 10,000 shares of IBM, then generate a sell order of up to30,000 shares and send it to the same marketplace that the buy order isbeing sent to, and do this until 200,000 shares have been sold,accepting a price difference of up to four cents from the last trade,and trading with anyone except Broker Bluefield. The interest expires onJan. 5, 2003 at 11:30 am.

It will be appreciated that many other types of procedures can bedefined, and thus a huge variety of interests can be accommodated viathe present interest/procedure technique.

As used herein, a “go-along request” is a communication from aspecialist or market maker requesting more liquidity to complete part ofa trade whose price has already been agreed upon.

Returning to FIG. 1, procedure processor 10 is responsive to severaltypes of stimuli, corresponding to system interrupts:

-   -   1. time of day—processor 10 keeps a time-order queue of trigger        conditions for stored interests, times can be specified either        absolutely or relative to market open or close times;    -   2. market data—processor 10 receives market data from various        marketplaces and can use this market data to satisfy trigger        conditions for stored interests;    -   3. other data—processor 10 receives other data such as weather        forecasts, crop predictions and so on, and can use this data to        satisfy trigger conditions for stored interests;    -   4. order indication—processor 10 receives indications of orders        that are en route to various marketplaces, and can use the order        indications to satisfy trigger conditions for stored interests.        Also, when processor 10 spawns an order, if the trigger was        other than an order indication, then processor 10 generates an        order indication for the spawned order so that waiting interests        can respond to the spawned order. Additionally, a new interest        willing to interact with stored interests generates an order        indication;    -   5. block system interest—processor 10 receives indications of        willingness to trade from various block systems and can use this        information to satisfy trigger conditions for stored interests;    -   6. go-along request—processor 10 receives go-along requests and        can use these requests to satisfy trigger conditions for stored        interests.        Procedure processor 10 is adapted to spawn new orders when        suitable trigger conditions of its stored interests are met.        Procedure processor 10 also serves to generate negotiation        (indications of interest) IOIs when suitable trigger conditions        of its stored interests are met.

Procedure processor 10 serves to create an electronic crowd, creatingcompetition for order fills and thus improving the quality of markets.Procedure processor 10 benefits dealers by gathering potential liquidityis a readily accessible form, and benefits brokers by providing anenvironment to match trading interests.

Generally, parties who submit interests are charged fees, whereasincoming order flow is charged little or no fees. This fee structure isthe opposite of a conventional ECN charging policy.

A challenge for the present system is to convince traders that thesystem prevents improper behavior by other traders. One example ofimproper behavior is front-running, that is, submitting a same-sideorder ahead of a massive order to take advantage of the price changethat will be caused when the massive order is exposed to the market.Generally, the present system enables traders to obtain informationabout their own interests, but not anyone else's. In some embodiments,interests cannot trigger based on same-side order indications.

FIGS. 4-7 are block diagrams showing respective environments in whichthe order generation program resides. In FIG. 4, the procedure processorresides at a central location. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, theprocedure processor resides at multiple central locations. In theembodiment of FIG. 6, the procedure processor resides at both thecentral and trader's locations. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, theprocedure processor resides at an individual trader's location. In otherembodiments, the procedure processor resides at the trader's locationand multiple central locations.

FIG. 4 shows central location 5 comprising procedure processor 10coupled to interest book 12 and procedure book 14, and order processor20 that is coupled to order router 30. Each of procedure processor 10and order processor 20 is coupled to various trader locations, shown astraders 70 and 80. Procedure processor 10 is also connected to marketdata source 40 and to non-exchange services 50, such as order matchingservices, block trading systems and the like. Order router 30 isconnected to external marketplaces 60, such as stock exchanges andelectronic communication networks (ECNs) able to execute orders.

Each of procedure processor 10, order processor 20 and order router 30is shown as a separate general purpose computer appropriatelyprogrammed. In other embodiments, procedure processor 10, orderprocessor 20 and order router 30 may execute on the same general purposecomputer. In some embodiments, procedure processor 10 is actually agroup of processors or virtual processors simultaneously executingsimilar processing but for different interests and procedures, such asone processor per procedure or one processor per interests for a tradingentity.

FIG. 4 shows traders 70 and 80 coupled directly to central location 5.In some embodiments, at least one of traders 70 and 80 is connected viaa communications network such as the Internet to central location 5.

Generally, trader 80 sends an order to order processor 20, which sendsan order indication about the order to procedure processor 10. Orderprocessor 20 also sends the order to order router 30 for forwarding toan execution location, such as a stock exchange or ECN.

Trader 70 sends an interest to procedure processor 10. Trader 80 is alsoable to send an interest to procedure processor 10. Each of traders 70and 80 is able to submit customized procedures, such as procedure 14 bof FIG. 1, to procedure processor 10, and after validation, procedure 14b is included in procedure book 14.

Market data source 40 and non-exchange services 50 each providenon-order information to procedure processor 10. Non-exchange services50 may be block negotiation services, such as Harborside Plus and/orLiquidNet providing information about parties interested in trading.

It will be appreciated that some traders can enter both orders andinterests, while other traders are limited to either orders orinterests.

FIG. 5 is somewhat similar to FIG. 4 and, for brevity, generallycorresponding elements will not be discussed. In the embodiment of FIG.5, central locations 305 and 405 have respective procedure processors310 and 410. Order processors 320 and 420 are respectively coupled toprocedure processors 410 and 310. Each central location appears to be atrader, from the perspective of the other central location. The externalinterfaces at one central location are thus available to the othercentral location, with no configuration changes required at the externalinterfaces.

FIG. 6 is somewhat similar to FIG. 4 and, for brevity, generallycorresponding elements will not be discussed. In the embodiment of FIG.6, procedure processor 210 resides at central location 205, and trader270 has elected to also implement local procedure processor 271. In thisembodiment, trader 270 retains its interests that depend on conditionsascertainable from market data source 241, so as to avoid the feesassociated with using procedure processor 210 to execute theseinterests.

FIG. 7 is somewhat similar to FIG. 4 and, for brevity, generallycorresponding elements will not be discussed. In the embodiment of FIG.7, procedure processors 171 and 181 are located at the trader site.Interests are submitted by a trader to his/her respective procedureprocessor. Only the trader's own order flow is accessible to procedureprocessors 171, 181, and so the trader's interests are responsive to amuch smaller segment of market interest than in the embodiment of FIG.4. In some embodiments, at least one of traders 170 and 180 is coupledto a non-exchange service, and then the respective procedure processoris able to accommodate interests for negotiation. However, each traderhas to configure its own interface, whereas in the embodiment of FIG. 4,new interfaces can be accommodated without configuration changes at thetrader location.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts referred to in explaining a setup phase.

As shown in FIG. 8, during system setup, at step 505, a library ofprocedures is created. At step 510, custom procedures are created.Library procedures and custom procedures may also be created duringoperation of procedure processor 10. At step 512, decision table 14 z ofFIG. 1 is created. More specifically, each party whose orders willgenerate order indications for procedure processor 10 specifies howwaiting interests should receive the order indication. As an example,one trader may provide an ordered list of contra-parties, specifyingthat its order indications will be shown to interests from the firstcontra, then to interests from the second contra and so on. At step 515,the library procedures, custom procedures and decision table are sent toprocedure processor 10 for installation therein.

FIG. 9 depicts interest setup, that is, how a trader creates aninterest. At step 520, the trader selects a procedure from a menu oflibrary and authorized custom procedures. At step 525, the traderspecifies appropriate parameters for the selected procedure. At step530, the trader sends the interest to procedure processor 10.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are flowcharts showing operation of procedure processor10. As shown in FIG. 10, procedure processor 10 typically waits toreceive information, then determines which interests want to receive theinformation and supplies the information thereto. As shown in FIG. 11,after the information has been used to trigger the procedure associatedwith the interest, procedure processor 10 executes the procedure todetermine whether to spawn an order, and possibly an interest indicationfor unmatched spawned orders, or a negotiation IOI.

Turning to FIG. 10, procedure processor is adapted to receive a newprocedure (step 600), a new interest (step 605), an order indication(step 625), a go-along request (step 655), a block system interest (step670), market data, other data and time information (step 685), and anexecution report for a spawned order (step 696).

At step 600, a new procedure is received. At step 605, procedureprocessor 10 stores the new procedure in procedure book 14.

At step 605, a new interest is received. At step 610, procedureprocessor 10 stores the new interest in interest book 12. If theinterest indicates it is willing to interact with other interests, thenat step 614, processor 10 spawns an order indication. At step 616,processor 10 checks if contra-interests are found, and if so, at step620, executes indication processing (see step 705 of FIG. 11)for the newinterest.

At step 625, an order indication is received. At step 630, procedureprocessor 10 checks whether there are any interests waiting to betriggered by the order indication, and if so, processor 10 uses decisiontable 14 z to find which interests and procedures to trigger. At step635, processor 10 performs indication processing (see step 705 of FIG.11) for each of the triggered interest/procedures.

At step 655, a go-along request is received from a specialist ormarket-maker. At step 660, procedure processor 10 checks whether thereare any interests waiting to be triggered by the go-along request, andif so, processor 10 uses decision table 14 z to find the order in whichto trigger the waiting interests. At step 665, processor 10 performsgo-along processing (see step 740 of FIG. 11) for each of the triggeredinterest/procedures.

At step 670, a block system interest is received from a third partysystem. At step 675, procedure processor 10 checks whether there are anyinterests waiting to be triggered by the block system interest, and ifso, processor 10 triggers the waiting interests. At step 680, processor10 performs negotiation in accordance with the external system. Forexample, Harborside Plus has a trading desk with personnel that speak tothe human buyer and seller.

At step 685, non-order information such as market data, time data orother data is received. At step 690, procedure processor 10 checkswhether there are any interests waiting to be triggered by the non-orderinformation, and if so, processor 10 triggers the waiting interests. Atstep 695, processor 10 performs data processing (see step 745 of FIG.11) for each of the triggered interest/procedures.

At step 696, processor 10 receives an execution report or a cancellationreport for a spawned order, and at step 698, processor 10 forwards theexecution report or cancellation report to the owner of the interestassociated with the spawned order.

FIG. 11 shows the indication processing, data processing, and go-alongprocessing referenced in FIG. 10.

Indication processing will now be described. At step 705, procedureprocessor 10 checks whether the contra-party is acceptable, and if so,at step 710, checks whether the instant interest has the ability tocreate a matching order; generally, this is equivalent to checkingwhether the interest has sufficient quantity. If so, at step 715,processor 10 checks whether both sides are ready. In the case of anorder indication, the contra side is always ready. In the case of aninterest indication, that is, a newly arrived interest, step 715 is acheckpoint as to whether both sides accept each other. If all tests arepositive, then at step 720, procedure processor 10 spawns a new orderand at step 725, sends the order to order router 30 via order processor20. Next, at step 730, processor 10 checks whether the interest has beenextinguished, and if so, at step 735, marks the interest as “completed”in interest book 12.

It will be appreciated that the execution report for the spawned orderis received at step 696 of FIG. 10.

Go-along processing comprises checking, at step 740, whether theinterest has sufficient quantity to create a matching order, and if so,continuing processing at step 720.

Data processing comprises checking, at step 745, whether the marketdata, time data or other data has triggered the need to negotiate, andif so, at step 750, spawning a negotiation IOI or other suitable messagein accordance with the interface of the external negotiation system.Negotiation occurs in the external system, or according to themethodology of the external system. If negotiation is not required orafter spawning the negotiation IOI, at step 755, processor 10 checkswhether the received data has triggered the need to spawn an order. Ifso, at step 760, an order indication is sent to procedure processor 10.That is, the spawned order is not matched to an existing order, so otherinterests may want to provide contra-side liquidity, and are given theopportunity to do so by the spawned order indication. Processingcontinues at step 720.

A first exemplary use will now be described. Let it be assumed thattrader 70 uses procedure 12 b, shown in Table 3, to create interest 12d, shown in Table 4.

TABLE 3 procedure procedure 14b, cleanup name triggers order to sell atleast nn shares parameters sym = symbol of security nn = shares ofincoming order m1 = maximum amount of shares per spawned buy order m2 =total amount of shares for the interest price = CLEANUP extime =expiration time contras = contra parties accepted or denied associatedinterest 12d interests

TABLE 4 interest name interest 12d owner trader 70 procedure procedure14B parameters sym = GRPN nn = 100 m1 = 25,000 m2 = 25,000 price =CLEANUP extime = when shares traded contras = allProcedure 14 b uses an arbitrarily defined “cleanup” strategy, sometimesreferred to as a “ride” strategy. The cleanup strategy looks at thequote (order book) in the best external market, and determines for thecontra-side, the best size, the best price, the next-best size and thenext-best price. The cleanup strategy spawns an order at a price equalto the contra next-best price offset by the minimum price difference,and having size equal to the lesser of (a) the amount of the interestremaining to be executed less the contra best size, and (b) the amountof the order indication less the contra best size.

Assume that order indication 1112 (not shown) is sent to procedureprocessor 10. Order indication 1112 is as follows: SELL 6,500 GRPN@13.70. Assume that the best market quote is: BID 1000 @13.85, 2000@13.82, 1500 @13.77, 5000 @13.74. Without procedure processor 10, theorder for order indication 1112 would be executed at the following priceper share:

(1000*13.85+2000*13.82+1500*13.77+2000*13.74)/6500=13.79

However, procedure processor 10 notifies interest 12 d of orderindication 1112. Interest 12 d is triggered by the existence of orderindication 1112 to spawn a new order 1113 (not shown) that is matched tothe order for order indication 1112. The price for order 1113 iscomputed as the next-best price (13.82) plus the minimum increment(0.01), namely 13.83. The size of order 1113 is computer as the lesserof (25,000−1,000) and (6,500−1,000), namely, 5,500 shares. Order 1113is: BUY 5,500 GRPN @13.83.

Procedure processor 10 sends spawned order 1113 to order processor 20for forwarding to the execution market of the order indicated in orderindication 1112. With procedure processor 10, the order for orderindication 1112 is executed at the following price per share:

(1000*13.85+5500*13.83)/6500=13.83

From the viewpoint of the order for order indication 1112, being exposedto procedure processor 10 has resulted in a price improvement of(13.83−13.79)=0.04 per share, at no charge to the order.

A second exemplary use is as follows. Assume interest 12 d and a bestmarket quote as above. Trader 80 submits interest 12 e shown in Table 5to procedure processor 10.

TABLE 5 interest name interest 12e owner trader 80 procedure procedure14a parameters sym = GRPN nn = 100 m1 = 10,000 m2 = 10,000 delta =market extime = when shares traded contras = only trader 70Upon receiving interest 12 e, procedure processor 10 exposes it tointerest 12 d and determines that interest 12 d should spawn order 1114as follows:

-   -   BUY 9,000 GRPN @13.83        and that interest 12 e should spawn order 1224 as follows:    -   SELL 10,000 GRPN @MARKET        Procedure processor 10 sends order 1115 and order 1224 to order        processor 20 for forwarding to order router 30 and thence to the        best external market. With procedure processor 10, order 1224 is        executed at the following price per share:

(1000*13.85+9000*13.83)/10000=13.83

A third exemplary use is as follows. A “fast execute” procedure isdefined with a trigger of “check all external markets for a specifiedprice” and an action of “immediately hit the price for up to xxremaining shares”. The fast execute procedure can manage orders. Here,procedure processor 10 monitors other markets on behalf of the interestsassociated with the fast execute procedure.

A fourth exemplary use is as follows. A go-along procedure, procedure 14c, is defined as shown in Table 6 with an associated interest 12 f shownin Table 7. Here, if Market Maker Jones requests a buy order for up to10,000 shares, interest 12 f spawns a buy order for 10,000 shares to bepart of a trade that has already been priced on an exchange floor.

TABLE 6 procedure procedure 14c, go-along name triggers go-along requestfrom CONTRA for SIDE for SYM for (nmin, nmax) shares parameters SYM =symbol of security nmin = minimum shares of go-along request nmax =maximum shares of go-along request m1 = maximum amount of shares perspawned same-side order m2 = total amount of shares for the interestprice = GO-ALONG extime = expiration time contras = contra partiesaccepted or denied (specialists or market makers only) associatedinterest 12f interests

TABLE 7 interest name interest 12f owner trader 70 procedure procedure14c parameters side = BUY sym = GRPN nmin = 100 nmax = 10,000 m1 = 100m2 = 80,000 price = GO-ALONG extime = 2003 Jan 30, 4 pm contras = onlyJones

Differences between the present system and NYFIX Millennium are setforth in Table 8.

TABLE 8 Design Feature Present System NYFIX Millennium Fundamental isbasically an “interests” integration mechanism. are one-dimensionalCharacter Reacting to ordinary order flow is just 1 of 5 tools its priceimprovement customers have. Allows institutional interests to findmethodologies applied other institutional interests while remaining bothto orders which are undisplayed, and completely confidential and whilepassed through them seeing potentially ‘all’ order flow Business doesnot compete with any current service. Generates compete for order flowStrategy orders to be executed elsewhere. Makes market and compete withreintegration for institutional orders an achievable exchanges goalbecause it adds value to all links, and is non- competitive Technologyis an open platform allowing the user to employ any restrict the user toa trading style and any technology. Makes systematized narrow range oftrading style competition practical for all users. Does system providednot require firms to change prove approaches. options Order providespairing of orders which may be executed by provide pairing for Executioneither electronic or manual methods. Establishes a execution inelectronic fully neutral methodology which can find liquiditymethodologies only whether electronic or on Exchange floors Businessallows for the maintenance of distinctive inter- firm treat the biddingRelationships relationships. Leverages relationships in place and crowdas monolithic enables development of “electronic” relationships that canbe key to profitability Ease of users do not need to make any change intrading, or order routers must Access order routing to get value added.Eliminates major reroute orders to the operational changes, eithertrading or routing, so not system to get value looking for moreliquidity is hard to rationalize Revenue free to the users of liquidity,the “interests” pay. users of liquidity in Model Eliminates theinappropriateness of charging systems pay for price customers added feesfor best execution improvement

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing procedure processing system 1005,liquidity providers 1070, 1071, liquidity seeker 1080 and exchange orECN 1050. Procedure processing system 1005 includes order processor1020, bus 1015, and procedure processors 1010, 1011. Exchange or ECN1050 includes order router 1055 and marketplaces 1060-1069. Each ofmarketplaces 1060-1069 specializes in its own respective type ofsecurity, such as XYZ stock, YZA stock, XYZ options, XYZ futures and soon. The software associated with each of marketplaces 1060-1069 may beassociated with respectively separate hardware (computers andcommunication facilities) or may be associated with shared hardware.

As used herein and in the claims, a marketplace is an entity, such as aperson or system, that is legally authorized by a government regulatorybody to match buy and sell orders to create a trade that the parties areobligated to fulfill. For purposes of this definition, a systemcomprises hardware and/or software.

Generally, liquidity seeker 1080 sends an order, referred to as theoriginal or liquidity seeking order, to marketplace 1060 via procedureprocessing system 1005.

As used herein and in the claims, an order is en route to a marketplacewhen the sender of the order has launched the order on its way to amarketplace for execution, the launch being from an electronic system.When a retail customer sends an order to a broker, the order is not yeten route to a marketplace because a broker is not a marketplace. When abroker sends its customer's order to an exchange or ECN, the order is enroute to a marketplace because an exchange or ECN typically comprises anorder routing facility and at least one marketplace.

As used herein and in the claims, a procedure is not at a marketplacewhen the procedure operates in the primary interest of an entity otherthan the marketplace. For example, when a procedure is operated by amarket-maker at the marketplace for the market-maker's own account, thenthe procedure is not at the marketplace even if the procedure operateson facilities provided by the marketplace and/or the procedure islocated on the marketplace premises.

In one embodiment, procedure processing system 1005 delays the originalorder by a predetermined short time period; hopefully, the presence ofthe original order causes responsive orders, also referred to ascontra-side orders or spawned orders, to be spawned. System 1005 sendsthe spawned orders to marketplace 1060 during the predetermined shorttime period for which the original order is delayed. Accordingly, whenthe original order arrives at marketplace 1060, additional liquidity inthe form of the spawned orders is present. Thus, to liquidity seeker1080, a disadvantage of system 1005 is that the original orderexperiences a delay, but an advantage of system 1005 is that when theoriginal order finally arrives at marketplace 1060, there is generallymore liquidity (contra-side orders) than would exist without system1005.

In another embodiment, system 1005 does not delay the original order. Inthis embodiment, additional liquidity arrives at marketplace 1060shortly after the original order but in time to be reasonably likelyrelevant to the trading process experienced by the original order.

In a further embodiment, system 1005 enables procedure processors 1010,1011 to chose a destination marketplace for a spawned order that is notnecessarily the same as the marketplace for the original order.

As used herein and in the claims, sending a spawned order substantiallycontemporaneously with sending of the original order means sending thespawned order in a timeframe such that there is a reasonable likelihoodthat the spawned order participates in the matching process for theoriginal order at the marketplace, when the spawned order and theoriginal order are sent to the same marketplace. A spawned order may notbe matched with the original order for a variety of reasons, such as:the quantity summed over the spawned orders exceeds the quantity of theoriginal order, or the original order is matched with an order at themarketplace from a source other than system 1005. When the spawned orderand the original order are sent to different marketplaces, then“substantially contemporaneously” is a time period that is approximatelyequal to the time period that would be considered substantiallycontemporaneous if the spawned order and the original order are sent tothe marketplace that the original order is sent to.

Turning to the components of system 1005, order processor 1020 andprocedure processors 1010, 1011 are each general purpose processorsprogrammed to operate in accordance with the present invention. Each oforder processor 1020 and procedure processors 1010, 1011 executes arespective stored procedure to form a respective running procedure thatacts in accordance with the present invention. The procedure executed byprocedure processor 1010 is confidential to liquidity provider 1070, isoperated for the benefit of liquidity provider 1070; and liquidityprovider 1070 is legally responsible for the trade-related actions ofprocedure processor 1010, such as spawned orders. Similarly, theprocedure executed by procedure processor 1011 is confidential toliquidity provider 1071, is operated for the benefit of liquidityprovider 1071; and liquidity provider 1071 is legally responsible forthe trade-related actions of procedure processor 1011, such as spawnedorders.

Confidentiality of a procedure arises from at least one of thefollowing: (a) the values (numeric information) and/or parameters(non-numeric information) are known only to the liquidity provider thatprovides them, (b) the details of how the procedure operates, referredto as its methodology, are known only to the liquidity provider, and (c)the values produced by the procedure are known only to system 1005. Forexample, if a predefined set of procedures is available for running onprocedure processor 1010, the selected procedure is confidential if theidentity of the selected procedure running on procedure processor 1010is known only to liquidity provider 1070. As another example, even ifthe methodology of the procedure running on procedure processor 1010 isknown, the procedure is confidential if the values used by the procedureare known only to liquidity provider 1070.

Bus 1015 is a group of wired or wireless connections enabling data to beexchanged among processors 1010, 1011 and 1020 at high speed. Forexample, processors 1010, 1011, 1020 may be so-called blade servers thatare plugged into a high-speed backplane serving as bus 1015.

Procedure processor 1010 receives data from liquidity provider 1070.Procedure processor 1010 is prevented from sending information back toliquidity provider 1070, except for data relating to acknowledgement ofmessages, requests to retransmit messages and other protocol-levelcommunications, and status reports relating to procedure processor 1010.Effectively, there is a one-way communications link between liquidityprovider 1070 and procedure processor 1010, that prevents liquidityprovider 1070 from learning about events occurring at system 1005 suchas arrival of liquidity seeking orders and responses from otherprocedure processors, such as procedure processor 1011.

Procedure processor 1010 executes a procedure, also referred to as arunning procedure, that receives information from liquidity provider1070 and uses the information to provide order related information toorder processor 1020, according to a variety of techniques, some ofwhich are discussed below. The order related information from procedureprocessor 1010 may be provided in response to information from orderprocessor 1020, or may be provided from time to time as procedureprocessor 1010 determines that such information should be provided. Theexamples below provide further clarification.

Procedure processor 1011 is similar to procedure processor 1010, exceptthat the procedure executed by procedure processor 1011 is likely to bedifferent than the procedure executed by procedure processor 1010, andprocedure processor 1011 receives information from liquidity provider1071 instead of 1070. Since each of liquidity providers 1070, 1071 hastheir own procedure processor, the execution of their respectiveprocedures occurs independently, that is, the procedures are isolatedfrom each others' operation. This is advantageous, as one liquidityprovider may use computation intensive procedures that take a long timeto execute, while another liquidity provider can use a quicker procedurethat is not slowed by the computation intensive procedure. Additionally,the liquidity providers can send data to their procedures at their ownpreferred rates, without interference from each other.

System 1005 is useful to a liquidity provider in, inter alia, thefollowing situations. First, a liquidity provider may wish to buy orsell a very large amount of a security, so large that if others knew ofthis quantity, it would adversely affect the market price. By usingsystem 1005, the liquidity provider can buy or sell partial amounts ofthe very large amount, and only in response to contra-side activity thatoccurred without knowledge of the existence of the very large amount,thereby avoiding adverse pricing. Second, the liquidity provider maywish to frequently trade without the market being aware of the price atwhich the liquidity provider is willing to trade.

Order processor 1020 generally receives an order from liquidity seeker1080 that is en route to marketplace 1080, and after a short delay,forwards the order to marketplace 1080. Additionally, order processor1020 informs procedure processors 1010, 1011 of the existence of theliquidity seeking order. Further, order processor 1020 forwards anyorders spawned by processors 1010, 1011 to marketplace 1060. In someembodiments, order processor 1020 automatically generates a cancellationfor the spawned orders in a predetermined time after sending the spawnedorders to marketplace 1060, ensuring that if the spawned order is notquickly executed at marketplace 1060, then it is cancelled.

FIGS. 13-16 are flowcharts showing different use cases for system 1005.FIG. 13 shows a basic use case. FIG. 14 shows a “fill or kill” use case.FIG. 15 shows an “immediate or cancel” use case. FIG. 16 shows a quoteindication use case.

Turning to FIG. 13, at step 1100, liquidity provider 1070 sends areference order to procedure processor 1010. The reference order definesthe procedure that will be executed by procedure processor 1010, such asby identifying the procedure from a library of procedures and providinginitial values. At steps 1121-1126, liquidity provider 1070 sendsparameters and/or values to procedure processor 1010 to control itsoperation, that is, to affect how procedure processor 1010 spawnsorders.

At step 1110, procedure processor 1010 registers for at least one symbolat order processor 1020, to receive broadcasts from order processor 1020relating to incoming orders for the symbol(s). At step 1120, orderprocessor 1020 receives the registration and adjusts its list of whichprocedure processors should be notified of incoming orders in thesymbol(s).

At step 1130, liquidity seeker 1080 sends an original order to system1005, for transmission to marketplace 1060. For example, the originalorder may be “BUY 500 XYZ AT MARKET”. The original order is delivered toorder processor 1020. In response (not shown in FIG. 13), orderprocessor 1020 checks whether any procedure processors are registeredfor the symbol of the original order, in this example, the symbol is“XYZ”. If not, order processor 1020 immediately sends the original orderto marketplace 1060 (not shown). On the other hand, if at least oneprocedure processor is registered for the symbol, then at step 1140,order processor 1020 broadcasts information about the original order,such as a copy of the original order, to each of the registeredprocedure processors, in this case, procedure processor 1010, and afterwaiting for a predetermined time interval, such as 20 milliseconds, atstep 1170, order processor 1020 sends the original order to marketplace1060.

Procedure processor 1010 receives the broadcast of the original order,and meanwhile, has been receiving updated values from liquidity provider1070. At this point, procedure processor 1010 executes its procedure todetermine whether to spawn an order, and if so, the size and price ofthe spawned order. At step 1150, procedure processor 1050 generates aspawned order and provides the spawned order to order processor 1020.

In a variation of this embodiment, procedure processor 1050 generatesmultiple spawned orders for this symbol.

In another variation of this embodiment, procedure processor 1050generates a spawned order that is not intended to be a contra-side orderfor the spawned order, such as an order in a derivative marketplace orfor a related instrument or symbol.

In a further variation of this embodiment, procedure processor 1050generates a spawned order that is on the same side as the originalorder. To avoid front-running, the same-side spawned order is not sentto any marketplace prior to the original order being sent to amarketplace.

In yet a further variation of this embodiment, procedure processor 1050generates at least one same-side spawned order and at least onecontra-side spawned order for the symbol of the original order.

In still another variation of this embodiment, at step 1140, orderprocessor 1020 broadcasts only partial information about the originalorder—instead of a copy of the original order—to each of the registeredprocedure processors associated with the symbol of the original order.The partial information is a selected subset of the terms of theoriginal order. As a first example, order processor 1020 notifiesprocedure processor 1010 of only the size of the original order. As asecond example, order processor 1020 notifies procedure processor 1010of only the side of the original order. As a third example, orderprocessor 1020 notifies procedure processor 1010 of only the price ofthe original order. As a fourth example, order processor 1020 notifiesprocedure processor 1010 of only the source, also referred to as thecontra-party, of the original order. As a fifth example, order processor1020 notifies procedure processor 1010 of two characteristics of theoriginal order, the characteristics selected from the set of size, side,price, and source. In some instances of this embodiment, the amount ofinformation about the original order that is provided by order processor1020 to procedure processor 1010 depends on the specific characteristicsthat the owner of the original order—liquidity seeker 1080—hasauthorized for release to the owner of procedure processor1010—liquidity provider 1070. In these instances, liquidity seeker 1080indicates, either during a system set-up phase or by indicationsaccompanying the original order, how much information that orderprocessor 1020 should provide to procedures owned by different parties.

In an additional variation of this embodiment, order processor 1020broadcasts only partial information about the original order, andprocedure processor 1010 generates multiple spawned orders that are onthe same-side and/or the contra-side of the original order, and are forthe same symbol and/or a different symbol.

Since the spawned order is received by order processor 1020 during thepredetermined delay interval of the original order, order processor 1020forwards the spawned order to marketplace 1060.

It will be appreciated that system 1005 typically comprises manyprocedure processors, so that several spawned orders could be receivedin response to the broadcast of the original order. Order processor 1020simply forwards these spawned orders to marketplace 1060.

It is observed that liquidity provider 1070 does not know what procedureprocessor is actually doing, since the activity of procedure processor1010 also depends on receiving information from order processor 1020;nevertheless, by sending different values to procedure processor 1010,liquidity provider 1070 can exert some control over its operation.

For perspective, it is noted that, without system 1005, liquidityprovider 1070 would be sending orders to marketplace 1060, pretty muchin ignorance of what would actually be at marketplace 1060 when itsorders arrived. In contrast, with system 1005, liquidity provider 1070at least has some control over how procedure processor 1010 spawns anorder, and the spawned order is in response to an original order that isabout to arrive at marketplace 1060.

At step 1080, marketplace 1060 has received the spawned order(s) and theoriginal order, and of course, may be receiving orders from othersources. In this example, the spawned order from procedure processor1010 is matched by marketplace 1060 with the original order fromliquidity seeker 1080 to form an executed trade. In other examples, theoriginal order is matched by marketplace 1060 with a differentcontra-side order. In yet other examples, marketplace 1060 matchesmultiple orders with the original order to form an execution.

In a subsequent step (not shown), order processor 1020 sends acancellation for the spawned order to marketplace 1060, to ensure thatif the spawned order has not been promptly executed, it is removed frommarketplace 1060. If the spawned order was executed, then thecancellation is refused by marketplace 1060 as a “too late to cancel”situation.

Turning to FIG. 14, the “fill or kill” use case is similar to that ofFIG. 13, and only the differences are discussed for brevity. The term“fill or kill” is used interchangeably with the term “all or none”.Specifically, at step 1155, right at the end of the predeterminedinterval, such as 20 milliseconds, that the original order is delayedwhen there is at least one interested procedure processor, orderprocessor 1020 determines whether there is enough quantity of spawnedorders to completely fill the original order. If so, at steps 1160 and1170, the spawned orders and original order are sent to marketplace1060, as in FIG. 13. If not, then the original order and spawned orderand cancelled by order processor 1020, nothing is sent to marketplace1060, and liquidity seeker 1080 is notified by order processor 1020 thatits order could not be filled.

For liquidity seeker 1080, a “fill or kill” order to system 1005 isuseful as it almost guarantees that marketplace 1060 will execute theoriginal order, reducing the exposure that liquidity seeker 1080experiences at marketplace 1060.

Turning to FIG. 15, the “immediate or cancel” use case is similar to the“fill or kill” use case of FIG. 14, and only the differences arediscussed for brevity. At step 1155, order processor 1020 determineswhether there is enough quantity of spawned orders to completely fill(match with) the original order. If so, the original and spawned ordersare sent to marketplace 1060. If there is insufficient quantity ofspawned orders to completely fill the original order, then at step 1157,order processor 1020 adjusts the quantity of the original order to matchthe quantity of spawned orders, thereby cancelling the portion of theoriginal order that is unfilled by spawned orders, and then the adjustedoriginal and spawned orders are sent to marketplace 1060.

Turning to FIG. 16, the quote indication use case is similar to that ofFIG. 13, and only the differences are discussed for brevity.

As used herein and in the claims, a quote indication is an expression ofreadiness to buy and/or sell up to a named quantity of a named symbol ata named price, the expression being provided for the exclusive andprivate use of order processor 1020. Generally, a quote is understood tobe for publication, whereas a quote indication is not for publication.

As shown in FIG. 16, each time that procedure processor 1010 receives avalue update from liquidity provider 1070, procedure processor 1010computes a new quote indication and sends it to order processor 1020.The quote indication can be one-sided, that is, only to buy or only tosell, or can be two-sided, that is, a buy quantity and price as well asa sell quantity and price.

In this case, after order processor 1020 receives a new original order,at step 1140, order processor 1020 compares the original order with thequote indication and, when appropriate, converts the most recent quoteindication from procedure processor 1010 into a spawned order. Theconversion occurs as follows:

-   -   symbol of spawned order=symbol of original order;    -   side of spawned order=contra to side of original order;    -   price of spawned order=price in quote for that side;    -   size of spawned order=minimum (quote size, size of original        order).        For example, assume that the quote is “XYZ: BUY 500 AT 20.20        SELL 600 AT 20.30”, and the original order is “BUY 300 XYZ AT        MARKET”. Order processor 1020 converts the quote to a spawned        order from procedure processor 1010 with parameters “SELL 300        XYZ AT 20.30”. As in FIG. 13, the spawned and original orders        are forwarded to marketplace 1060 at steps 1160 and 1170.

In a variation, the conversion occurs as above, except

-   -   size of spawned order=quote size

In some embodiments, the quote indication specifies the marketplaceswhere it can be used, and/or the liquidity seekers that can benefit from(“hit” or “take” the quote). This specificity enables replication of theprivate arrangements that currently exists between market participants,for example, when a broker gives preferential rates or treatment to ahigh volume customer.

Order processor 1020 does not convert the quote indication to a spawnedorder when inappropriate, such as when the price of the quote indicationand the price of the original order do not intersect, when the originalorder is destined for a marketplace where the quote indication is notapplicable, or when the source of the original order disqualifies theoriginal order from benefiting from the quote indication.

The quote indication case illustrated in FIG. 16 is useful to liquidityprovider 1070 when the market is extremely fast moving; that is,liquidity provider 1070 always has a response and is not blocked due tocomputation speed on the part of procedure processor 1010.

In another embodiment, the “fill or kill” feature of an original order,as shown in FIG. 14, is combined with the quote indication feature, asshown in FIG. 16.

Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention, and variousmodifications thereof, have been described in detail herein withreference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to these precise embodiments and the describedmodifications, and that various changes and further modifications may beeffected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A method of routing an original order to a marketplace, comprising:electronically delaying, by a software program executing on a computerprocessor, the original order by a predetermined short time period,electronically sending, by the software program, the original order tothe marketplace at the end of the predetermined short time period,electronically providing, by the software program, information relatingto the original order to a procedure during the predetermined short timeperiod, the procedure being a second software program executing on atleast one processor, so that the procedure can determine whether togenerate a spawned order, the information including at least onecharacteristic of the original order, the characteristic selected fromthe group of symbol, price, side, quantity and party, the side beingeither buy or sell, based upon the determination, electronicallygenerating the spawned order by the procedure, at least onecharacteristic of the spawned order being determined in response to thereceived information for the original order, and electronically sending,by the procedure, the spawned order from the at least one processor to adestination for execution essentially contemporaneously with the sendingof the original order to the marketplace.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the procedure represents an order handling strategy confidentialto a liquidity provider.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the procedurehas at least one trigger condition that must be satisfied to determinethat a spawned order should be generated.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving at least one of a value and a parameterfrom a liquidity provider for use by the procedure.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the procedure determines whether to generate a spawnedorder by comparing the information relating to the original order with atrigger condition.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least oneprocessor is located at one of (i) a central facility, (ii) multiplecentral facilities, (iii) a trader location, (iv) a central facility anda trader location, and (v) multiple central facilities and a traderlocation.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing marketdata to the procedure, and wherein the procedure determines whether togenerate a spawned order in accordance with the market data.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising sending information to a liquidityprovider associated with the procedure, the information consisting ofonly execution reports relating to the spawned order and status reportsrelating to the procedure.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the spawnedorder is prevented from being on the same side as the original order,the side being either buy side or sell side.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the spawned order is on the same side as the original order, theside being either buy side or sell side.
 11. The method of claim 1,further comprising automatically sending a cancellation of the spawnedorder to the destination after a predetermined time period.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the spawned order is sent to the marketplaceby the at least one processor during the predetermined short timeperiod.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the spawned order is sent tothe marketplace by the at least one processor at the end of thepredetermined short time period.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein theinformation provided to the procedure about the original order is a copyof the order.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the informationprovided to the procedure about the original order is a selected subsetof the terms of the original order.
 16. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining whether the quantity of the spawned order is atleast equal to the quantity of the original order, and when thedetermination is negative, cancelling the spawned order and the originalorder.
 17. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whetherthe quantity of the spawned order is at least equal to the quantity ofthe original order, and when the determination is negative, adjustingthe quantity of the original order to be equal to the quantity of thespawned order.
 18. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving aquote indication that is updated based on at least one parameter sent bya liquidity provider without knowledge of the original order, andwherein the determination of whether to generate a spawned orderincludes comparing the quote indication with the information relating tothe original order, and the generating of the spawned order includesconverting the quote indication to an order.
 19. The method of claim 1,wherein the spawned order and the original order are for respectivelydifferent securities.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the destinationis the marketplace.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the destinationis a venue different than the marketplace.
 22. The method of claim 1,wherein the software program and the procedure are executing ondifferent processors.
 23. The method of claim 1, wherein thepredetermined short time period is 20 milliseconds.
 24. A method ofrouting an original order to a marketplace, comprising: electronicallyreceiving the original order by a software program executing on acomputer processor, electronically providing, by the software program,information relating to the original order to a procedure, the procedurebeing a second software program executing on at least one processor, sothat the procedure can determine whether to generate a spawned order,the information including at least one characteristic of the originalorder, the characteristic selected from the group of symbol, price,side, quantity and party, the side being either buy or sell, based uponthe determination, electronically generating the spawned order by theprocedure, at least one characteristic of the spawned order beingdetermined in response to the received information for the originalorder, checking, by the software program, whether the quantity of thespawned order is at least equal to the quantity of the original order,when the quantity of the spawned order is less that the quantity of theoriginal order, adjusting, by the software program, the quantity of theoriginal order to be equal to the quantity of the spawned order,electronically sending, by the software program, the adjusted originalorder to the marketplace, and electronically sending, by the softwareprogram, the spawned order from the at least one processor to adestination for execution essentially contemporaneously with the sendingof the adjusted original order to the marketplace.
 25. A method ofrouting an original order, comprising: electronically receiving theoriginal order by a software program executing on a computer processor,electronically providing, by the software program, information relatingto the original order to a procedure, the procedure being a secondsoftware program executing on at least one processor, so that theprocedure can determine whether to generate a spawned order, theinformation including at least one characteristic of the original order,the characteristic selected from the group of symbol, price, side,quantity and party, the side being either buy or sell, based upon thedetermination, electronically generating the spawned order by theprocedure, at least one characteristic of the spawned order beingdetermined in response to the received information for the originalorder, checking, by the software program, whether the quantity of thespawned order is at least equal to the quantity of the original order,and when the quantity of the spawned order is less than the quantity ofthe original order, cancelling the spawned order and the original order.